GOOD

 

Write From My Heart

October 5, 2021

GOOD as it should be; as one should be

Matthew 19:16-17 (NIV) Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”   “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”

            During the process of creation God pronounced each phase of creation to be good. He created things just as they were meant to be. What he created needed no modifications nor adjustments to be any better than the way he created it to be. The phrase, “God saw that it was good,” is repeated throughout the creation story. It was mankind who tarnished God’s creation with sin.

            As I study the verses from today’s text selection, I gain a new respect for the word good—just as it should be. Christ reminded the young man that only he, Jesus Christ himself, could truly bear the title “just as I should be.” His advice to the young man was to obey the commandments, which was something the man would gladly do until it came to his personal wealth.

            How does this apply to us today? If you notice in the following verses (18-22) Christ began by listing some of what we know as The Ten Commandments found in the Old Testament. The young man had no problem following those, and for the most part neither do we. But all those commandments set the foundation for life in Christ, namely:

Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

            If we are honest, it is the second part about truly loving our neighbors as much as we esteem ourselves that causes the friction in our lives just as it did with the young man to whom Jesus was speaking. If our desire is to be a good person, then our desire is to be like Christ for only then are we just as we should be. That kind of life is only possible through Christ.